Page 53 of A Game of Lies

‘Former sex worker’ hadn’t been on Ffion’sExposurebingo card. Along with twelve million other viewers, she had watched open-mouthed as Aliyah hammered on the door of the confession pod last night and screamed her secret to the world.

‘I wasn’t expecting that, were you?’ Ffion had said. Dave, midway through the critical business of licking his balls, did not acknowledge her. On the telly, Aliyah walked out of theExposurecamp and down the mountain, tears streaking her beautiful face. Ffion had switched off. She didn’t want to watch any more, didn’t want to contribute to the viewing figures inflating Miles’s ego, when she knew the whole thing to be a sham. Seven days behind the scenes ofExposurehad shown her there was nothing real about reality TV.

‘There has to be a way to make them stop filming,’ she says now. She’s walked away from the farmhouse to call DI Malik without being overheard by the production team. ‘Miles Young is morally bankrupt.’

‘Half the government’s morally bankrupt,’ Malik says. ‘But unless they commit a criminal offence, we’re stuck with them.’

Ffion stops, out of breath from marching up the hill, and looks down at Carreg Plas. It looks idyllic. Criss-crossed above the courtyard, unlit string lights wait for the next wedding party, and Ffion imagines the cobbles covered with trestle tables and trailing ivy. She and Huw had got married at the chapel in Cwm Coed; had the reception in a marquee at the back of Y Llew Coch. White dress, veil, the whole lot.

‘What a waste of money,’ Mam said with a sigh, when Ffion moved back home, eighteen months later.

‘I’ll pay for the next one myself,’ Ffion told her.

DI Malik is still talking. ‘There’s nothing we can do to make Young Productions stop filming. All we can do is advise them of the risks.’

‘Miles doesn’t listen to anything unless it’s viewing figures,’ Ffion says. Public opinion has swung wildly in Ryan’s favour over the last two days, with several high-profile experts condemning the show, but the ratings continue to soar. It seems everyone loves a train crash. ‘He doesn’t even care that the crew have received death threats, or that someone posted the location of the farmhouse on Twitter. It’s only a matter of time before protestors start showing up.’

‘I’ll speak to the duty superintendent – put uniform on standby.’

‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this, boss.’ Ffion starts walking back down the mountain. ‘#FindRyan has been trending since yesterday, and everyone’s blamingExposure.’

As well they might, she thinks. Angharad’s phone hasn’t connected to the phone network since Friday evening, when Angharad had messaged Elen, and Ryan himself has disappeared without trace. Either someone else took him in last night, or Ryan spent another night sleeping on the hills. Ffion doesn’t want to think of the alternative. The one where Ryan uses Angharad’s knife to end it all.

‘It’s a sensitive situation,’ Malik says. ‘The media have polarised the situation – woke lefties crying for everyone tobe kindversus right-wing columnists praising Miles and mocking the contestants for beingsnowflakes. The chief’s wary of being seen to take sides.’

Ffion explodes. ‘What’s woke about trying to stop a mentally unwell man doing himself or someone else harm, for fuck’s sake?’

‘Ffion, did we, or did we not, set an action plan around professional language in the workplace?’

Ffion sighs. ‘We did.’

‘It would be nice if you at least pretended to be working on it. Forget about trying to stopExposurefilming,’ Malik adds. ‘Just find Ryan Francis.’

If only it were that simple, Ffion thinks, as she makes her way back down to the farmhouse. If Ryan wanted to disappear, he would have left the mountain immediately after breaking out of camp. If forensics confirm Ryan’s prints on the stones thrown at the cameras, it will make sense of his decision to stick around until then, but what about after that? Is he hoping for another opportunity to try to break open the box of secrets? Or does he have something else planned?

Ffion glances through the window of Ryan’s stable room as she walks through the courtyard. Jessica’s on the phone, pacing the tiny room, a hand tangled in her hair. None of Ryan’s friends or relatives has heard from him since he leftExposure. They all agree how out-of-character his disappearance is.

It’s around ten when Ffion reaches the house. She’s almost at the back door when she hears a door being locked, and she turns to see Miles in his bright yellow running jacket and beanie. He bends to slip the key to his studio under the doormat.

‘Miles!’ Ffion calls. If the well being of the contestants isn’t enough for him to pullExposure, maybe the safety of his staff will be. Among the barrage of online abuse are several graphic threats against Roxy, who, as the public face of Miles’s toxic creation, is taking the worst of the hate.

But Miles doesn’t even glance in Ffion’s direction. He sprints up the mountain for the daily exercise he insists on, clearly unable to forgo it even with all this shit going on. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns, Ffion thinks. It would serve him right if Ryan did catch up with him with that knife …

Just outside the entrance to Carreg Plas, a television crew are speaking to Aliyah. Now that the media are no longer dancing to his tune, Miles has declared the kitchen off-limits, and is refusing all interviews. That hasn’t stopped some of the contestants doing them on their own terms, and Ffion hovers by the corner of the house, watching Aliyah talk to a journalist in a long camel coat.

‘The argument isn’t whether women should be doing sex work,’ Aliyah is saying. ‘It’s how we ensure their safety while they’re doing it.’

‘Smashing it, isn’t she?’

Ffion turns to see Pam watching proudly from the side.

‘I gave her a pep talk last night. We have to own the narrative, I said. Can’t let that bastard Miles win.’

Ffion takes in the nodding journalist, and Aliyah’s confident stance. ‘Impressive.’

‘ITV is doing a feature about how the cost-of-living crisis pushes students into sex work, and the BBC want to interview her about “men who shame women”.’ Pam checks a note on her phone. ‘After that, Aliyah and I are speaking to Sky News about the exploitation of reality television. Oh, and I’ll be onWoman’s Hourtomorrow.’

‘What’s happening with your job?’

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